Only 7% of Europe’s residential PV systems are linked with home storage, according to SolarPower Europe. The five largest markets – Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Austria and Switzerland – account for more than 90% of the continent’s total installed storage capacity.

The first eight months of the year have brought 3.2 GW of new generation capacity, compared to 2.7 GW in the same period of last year.

The technology group from China is now presenting its Luna2000 photovoltaic storage system on a roadshow across Germany. It will start sales with a number of partners later this year in several European countries.

Only one of the 28 hybrid renewable energy plants allocated in the oversubscribed exercise did not feature solar, and PV took all the awards in the single-technology section of the procurement round.

Longi wants to expand the production capacity to 12 GW for its new highly efficient modules by the end of the year.

Highline Technology GmbH has a production process in which metal contacts are applied without touching the front of solar cells, reportedly saving resources and raising efficiency.

The unsubsidized market is taking another step forward in Germany with the news of two projects ready to sell power to the wholesale market as well as through PPAs.

The government is aiming for 100 GW of installed generation capacity this decade but analysts suggest 170 GW will be needed to avoid electricity shortages and solar rooftops could hold the key.

German tech company Tube Solar AG has secured €10.8 million to develop its cylindrical agrivoltaic modules. The lightweight devices could also be used on roofs until now considered unsuitable for PV.

Eneris Group has suspended its financial commitments for the time being and Leclanche shareholder Fefam has provided a bridge loan of CHF34 million to give the historic company more time to set up a joint venture for large scale battery cell production in Europe.